Base rocking-chair



(Moden.)

A.. B. STEVENS.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ASHER B. STEVENS, OF STAPLETON, NEW YORK.

BASE RocKlNG-CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 273,630, dated March 6, 1883. Application filed September 30, 1881.` (Model.)

To all whom it may concern Beit known that I, AsHER B. STEVENS, of Stapletoinin the county of Richmond and State of New York, have invented a new and lmproved Base Rocking-Chair; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description 'of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

This invention is in the nature of an improvement in base rocking-chairs; and the invention consists in a base rocking-chair provided with metal serrated plates, said plates having one or more teeth somewhat larger than the other teeth in the plates, the greater number ofthe teeth in the plates extending to the rear of the springs, with which the plates are combined,and to the rear ot' a line drawn midway between the ends ofthe rockers, the base and rockers of the chair being;` provided with leather or other stops of equivalent exibility but inelasticity,'all arranged and combined in the manner hereinafter particularly described.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, Figure 1 represents a side view, partly in section, of my improved base rocking-chair; and Fig. 2 an enlarged cross-section of same in the line x 00, Fig. l.

Similarletters ot reference indicate like parts in the two figures.

In constructing base rocking-chairs it is important that the contact of the rockers of the chair on the hase of the chair should be maintained under all circumstances and without liability of derangement, either when the chair is occupied and rocked or when it is moved from place to place; and, besides this, it is necessary that the chair, when rocked, should be noiseless in its action.

To accomplish these features, I construct the rocking portion A of my chair and the'base portion B thereof with serrated plates G and D. The serrations a in these plates are formed so that they will mesh one in the other, the teeth being all substantially of uniform size in each plate, with the exception of one, two, or three teeth, c', in each plate. To each plate C is cast a bracket, b, extending upward and at right angles to the plate, and terminating in a projection, c, which projection is perforated in the direction of its length. rlhis bracketis castor otherwise fixed to the plate C ata point which is somewhat nearer the front end, d, of the plate than the rear end, e, ofthe same. The plates C are cast with a curve corresponding to the curve of the rockers A ofthe chair, and the plates D are cast substantially straight, or without curve, to correspond with. the base B ot' the chair. The plates C, in this way constructed, are screwed or otherwise secured to the inner sides of the rockers A, so that the serrations in the plates C will project below the lower or curved faces, b', of the rockers, and when in place so that the projection c will be at a point which is in the rear of a line, x x, midway between the ends ofthe rockers, callsing the serrations in the plates C to extend to the rear of this middle line, :r x, to a great extent, if not wholly. The plates C being in this way located and secured, a screw, g, with an anti-friction washer,j, of vulcanized ber upon it, is inserted through each projection c and into the rocker, confining this washer between the end of the projection and the head ot' the screw g. The serrated plates D are fixed to the inner side ot' the base B, immediately opposite the plates C on the rockers A; but the serrations of the plates D do not project beyond the upper edge, h, or face ot' the base; also, to the base B, on its inner side and below the plates D, are secured projections t', which projections, like the projections c, are perforated in the direction of their length, through which perforations passes a screw, k, which screw also confines between its head and the upper end of said projections an antifriction washer, l, of vulcanized fiber. ihis anti -friction washer, like the anti -friction washer j, has a groove, n, in its periphery. Connecting one of these projections with the other projection, and consequently the rockers A with the base B, are coiled springs F, which springs have eyes r formed on their end coils, the eyes passing over the washersj and Z and received into the groove n of the washers.

Secured at one of their ends to the rockers A and at their other ends to the base B, at a given distance to the rear of the springs F, are stops G, which stops may be made of soleleather, or of two pieces of metal suitably jointed, so as to yield to the rocking motion ot' the chair.

The jointed metal stops herein mentioned will be incorporated in the claims of another application about to be made by me for vIletters Patent of the United States. The leather stops are preferred because, besides being noiseless, they are very cheap. These stops, being located in the rear of the median line or point, will permit the chair to have the long back movement, but for the same reason will check undue forward rocking.

Now, my chair and its base provided with serrated plates, projections, springs, and stops, substantially as I have above described, when rocked by the occupant, will cause the faces b' of the rockers to bear upon thefaces h of the base B, and as the chair is rocked the serrations in the plates G will readily mesh or en! ter into the serrations in the plates D, preventing the rockers from slipping laterally on the base or working forward or backward from their given 'position on the base. The projecting teeth in the plates C, by coming in contact with the inner sides of the base B, prevent the displacement sidewise of the chair from the base, and the larger teeth a! not only insure the proper placing in position of the plates G and Din their relation to one another, since these teeth can only be received into corresponding places in the respective plates, but, by reason otl their length, they act as guides, to a certain extent, thereby insuring the return of the teeth to their respective places in the plates as the chair is rocked forward o`r backward, and also, by reason of their length, they will not, when the chair is lifted, as in moving from place to place, be wholly withdrawn from their interlocking positions.

By placing the plates C and D so that the greater number oflheir teeth will be in the rear of the central point,ax, the teeth in these plates will, when thechair is rocked, be always more or less interlocked or meshed, since the rocking is mostly rearward. Were it otherwise,it might be that the chair would be rocked so far backward that the teeth in the plates C and D- such as sole-leather--it .will freely yield to the,

rocking motion ofthe chair ;A but while so doing itwilluotgiveoutanycreakingorothersoundin fact, be noiseless in its action. As before stated, these flexible stops are arranged in the rear ofthe vertical line of rest or center ot motion of the chair, and forward of a vertical line at which the chair would overturn backward, f thus effectually preventing the overturning of ,the lrocking portion in either the forward or backward directions.

As the chair' is rocked on its base, in the manner before described, the spiral springs F Will yield and facilitate the rocki-ng'rnotion ot' the chair, as do similar spiral springs in chairs ot' like construction but to prevent the noise which would be incident to two metallic bodies Workin g against each other, I interpose between the eyes r of the springs and the projections c and t', to which they are attached, the washers j and l, composed of a substance known as vulcanized fiber. This substance, being nonmetallic, enables the springs to operate without noise at the places where it is united to the projections, and by reasonof its peculiar coinposition it will wear for an indefinite time without breaking, in that respect differing from rubber or other washers that have been used for a similar purpose. V

Having now described my invention, what I claim'as new, and desi-re to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a base rocking-chair, the serrated plates C D, the greater number ot the serrations of which extend to the rear of a middle point, .fr of the rockers, combined with the stops G G, also arranged in the rear of said point, subslantially as shown and described.l

2. In a base rocking-chair, serrated plates in whiehthe greater number of the serrations extend to the rear of a middle point, man, of the rockers, in combination with leather stops G, coiled springs, projections c and c', and washers j l, ot' vulcanized ber, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In a base rocking-chair, plates with serrated teeth, one or more ot' the teeth being of greater dimensions than the other of the teeth in said plates, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. Inabasemcking-chair,thelongitudinallyperforated projections ai, and screws g 7c to receive -the springs, substantially as shown and described. v

5. The combination, substantially as shown and described, ofthe rocking portion A, base B, intermeshing toothed plates C D, and the springs F, with the iiexlible stops G, arranged in the rear of the connectingsprings, for the purpose specified.

6. The combina-tion, substantially as shown and described with the base and rocking por tion ot' a base rockingchair, of flexible stops connecting the two, and arranged in the rear Itou IIS

Vof the vertical line of rest or center ofv motion ofthe rocking portion, and in frontof the point where gravity would overturn the chair back ward, to positively limit the backward and forward movements ot the rocking portion and prevent the overturning thereof, as specified.

ASHER B. STEVENS.

Witnesses:

H. L. WATTENBERG,

G. M. PLYMPTON. 

